International Program of the CWA
CWA's International Program is part of the office of the President. As Industries have become more globalized, and employers have become multinational with interests around the world, the CWA has expanded its work with unions around the world.
The CWA works internationally in many different ways:
I. Partnerships with Sister Unions
CWA, over the years has developed relationships with sister unions around the world. In Mexico the Telefonistas of STRM (Sindicato de Telefonistas de la Republica Mexicana) represent 50,000 members who work at Telmex throughout the country. Since 1991 CWA has had an alliance agreement to work together with STRM on issues of mutual concern. Preceding the start of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) by 3 years, the agreement provides for support in bargaining, mobilization, and defending worker and union rights. The 1995 joint three-day training between 15 CWA organizers and 18 STRM organizers held in Laredo Texas was an important moment in the relationship. When Sprint fired the workers at La Conección Familiar in San Francisco during a CWA organizing drive in 1998, and US labor laws were inadequate to support the Mexican immigrant workers; STRM filed a case under the NAFTA Labor Side Agreement to seek justice for the workers.
In 1998 CWA formed the Ameritech Alliance (then Chicago based) of unions in the countries where the Ameritech (now part of the larger SBC) had holdings. Unions in Mexico (STRM), South Africa, Belgium and Denmark joined with the CWA to work on common problems. The Alliance now exists under the auspices of UNI as the SBC Virtual Committee.
CWA's leadership in innovative organizing was shared with the unions in the United Kingdon in 1997, when the CWA and the CONNECT Union at British Telecom (BT) formed the Atlantic Alliance with the CWA. Three CWA organizers traveled to the UK spending four months in 1997 living, working, organizing and exchanging skills with CWA families. The alliance was very helpful the following year when BT sought to merge with WorldCom, and again in 2000 to defeat the WorldCom-Sprint merger.
II. Global Union Federations
CWA is affiliated to 5 Global Union Federations (GUFs), previously known as Trade Secretariats, which are international groupings of trade unions working within the same sectors or industries around the world.
UNI - Union Network International - was formed in 2000 as a merger of 4 organizations including CI Communications international in which CWA had played a major role. UNI has 1,000 unions affiliated, covering 1 million workers, in 140 countries. Among the 13 Sectors in UNI, CWA participates in 4, Telecom; Graphical; Media, Entertainment and Arts; and Information Technology.
President Larry Cohen was the elected President of the UNI World Telecom Committee in 2001, Secretary Treasurer Barbara Easterling is the President of the UNI World Women's Committee, and President Morton Bahr is one of the 5 members of the UNI Management Committee, which with the General Secretary, makes the decisions that direct UNI between meetings of the Executive Committee and Congresses. http://www.union-network.org/
IFJ - International Federation of Journalists represents over 500,000 journalist in more than 100 countries dealing in issues of censorship, media concentration, and the safety of journalists. TNG-CWA President Linda Foley is a Vice President of the IFJ. http://www.ifj.org/
IMF - International Metalworkers Federation traditionally has represented workers in the manufacturing field, and now also actively organizes in the field of Information Technology as well. The IMF represents 207 Unions, with 25 million members in 99 countries. CWA and IUE-CWA have both long been affiliated to the IMF for manufacturing workers. http://www.imfmetal.org
ICEM - International Chemical Energy Mining and General Workers Union represents workers in many highly technical fields worldwide. The ICEM represents 399 unions, with over 20 million workers, in 108 countries. http://www.icem.org
ITF - International Transport Federation represents workers within airline shipping and transportation fields. The ITF represents 604 unions, with 5 million members in 137 countries. CWA is affiliated for workers at US Airways. http://www.itf.org.uk
III. CWA International Initiatives
In conjunction with the UNI World Telecom Committee, the CWA has pioneered the idea of Virtual Committees, globalized the idea of organizing workers in Wireless or Mobile Telecom, and taken the Customer Service Professional Day global.
From its origins as the America Alliance in 1997, in 2002 the SBC Virtual Committee was formed and based on the UNI website. The Virtual Committee idea, now-also expanded to include Vodafone (part owner of Verizon Wireless in the US), Singtel and PCCW (Pacific Century CyberWorks); starts with a telephone conference call to introduce the participants and then works like a listserve. Emails are sent by the Secretary of the Virtual Committee, and posted on the passworded site maintained by UNI. The innovation provides ease in contacting other unions with news about a common employer, and allows us to work together on bargaining and organizing campaigns.
Organizing means different things under the differing forms of labor laws around the world, but the need to organize the new industries, especially mobile or wireless, is very clear. CWA has pushed for better organizing, annual reports on the organizing goals and efforts to meet them in all of the Telecom Unions in UNI. The Mobile Organizing Week campaign has helped spread the word of organizing into the mobile workforce and the union leaderships around the world.
Customer Service Professional's Day (the first Thursday in October) is another innovation from the CWA Executive Vice President's office to be taken world wide with UNI. In 2003 tens of thousands around the world participated.
IV. Eduardo Diaz Union-to-Union Solidarity Program
Through the Eduardo Diaz Union-to-Union Solidarity Program, CWA Locals make voluntary contributions of 10 cents per member per year, and each District then selects project(s) to support. The Union to Union program has, since its inception in 1998, given a special priority to assisting the living standards of working women by sponsoring projects aimed at organizing and empowering women workers. In 2000 the CWA Convention continued the mission and renamed the program the Eduardo Diaz Union-to-Union Program in memory of the late CWA International Affairs Director Eduardo Diaz.
The programs supported around the world are coordinated by either UNI regional staff, or a member of the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center staff who are located in countries and regions. Their presence helps assure that the financial resources from CWA members reach the workers and are used in the most efficient manner possible. At the end of the project, reports and photographs are sent back to the CWA, along with the thanks of the trade unionists.
V. District Solidarity Committees
Several CWA Districts have active Solidarity Committees made up of interested Local officers, and staffed by the District International Coordinators. These Committees assist in the selection of projects for the District's funds to support, and work to raise awareness of the Solidarity projects.
VI. Trade
As trade agreements have expanded the globalization of goods and services around the world, trade has been added to the work of the International Affairs Department. With the negotiations of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) to expand from NAFTA's 3 countries to 34 countries from the Artic to Argentina, the trade policies of the US have become an important issue to the CWA. Our primary focus is to educate and inform our members and activists on trade issues. In the summer of 2001 the booklet: CWA Talking Trade, Taking a Stand for Justice was published. Over 20,000 copies of the booklet have been distributed.
